Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

In the Presence of the Beloved (Commentaries on Du‘a’ al-Iftitah, Du‘a’ Abu Hamzah al-Thumali and Du‘a’ Makarim al-Akhlaq)

Author: Ayatullah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi
Translator: Mansoor L. Limba
Publisher: ABWA Publishing and Printing Center
Category:

• Transliteration Symbols
• Foreword
• Note
• Preface
• Notes
• Part 1: Introduction, Discussions about Supplication
• What is the essence of supplication [du‘a’]?
• The independent effect of supplication
• Is supplication in conflict with the law of causation?
• Does supplication make people lazy and lax?
• Effects of supplication
• Educational effects
• Other effects
• 1. Knowledge of God
• 2. Acquisition of excellent morality
• 3. Purity and cleanliness
• 4. Suppression of the self
• Conditions for the acceptance of supplications
• God’s Mastership [wilayah] over the faithful
• The essential desirability of supplication
• Etiquettes of supplication
• Types of supplicants
• Motives behind supplication
• The meaning of arrogance in supplication
• Transmitted supplications
• Need to reflect on religious laws and repercussions of disrespectful acts
• Notes
• Part 2: Commentary on Du‘a’ al-Iftitah
• First Discourse: Ramadan
• Ramadan as a golden opportunity
• How to make the most of Ramadan
• Attention to supplication
• Ramadan and iftitah
• Praising God as the beginning of supplication
• Choosing the correct path and divine approval
• God’s mercy and wrath a blessing in disguise
• The need for fear and hope
• The ability to worship as a favor of God
• His servant’s sin and the perpetuity of God’s grace
• Second Discourse: The Essence of Supplication
• Recounting the blessings of God
• Perpetuity of blessings lies in the hand of God
• The need to reflect on the blessings of God
• 1. Fear of punishment as a divine blessing
• 2. Religious duties as divine blessings
• Wisdom behind the delay in the acceptance of supplications
• Third Discourse: Sincerity
• Man’s arrogance and indifference to God
• The value of getting closer and fervently praying to God
• The ever-open doors of God’s mercy
• Presence of heart needed in worship
• Love and affection as a product of gnosis [ma‘rifah]
• Fourth Discourse: Hope
• Hope and reliance on God
• Imam ‘Ali’s (‘a) saying about pinning one’s hope on God
• Fifth Discourse: Waiting for the Advent of Imam al-Mahdi (‘atfs)
• Waiting for the advent of Imam al-Mahdi (‘atfs)
• The motive behind “waiting”
• Learning from previous communities (the fate of those who are waiting [muntazirin]
• Sixth Discourse: The Imam of the Age (‘atfs)
• The Apostle (S) and the Imams (‘a) with the most valuable blessings
• Heedlessness of the Imam of the Age (‘atfs)
• Our duty during this period of occultation
• Notes
• Part 3: Commentary on Du‘a’ Abu Ḥamzah al-Thumali
• First Discourse: The Supplication of Abu Ḥamzah al-Thumali
• The Supplication of Abu Hamzah al-Thumali
• Ontological relationship between God and His creatures
• Occupations as a hindrance to grasping the ontological relationship
• Paying attention to His kindness increases one’s love for God
• Second Discourse: Paying Attention to the Attributes of Allah
• Paying attention to the Attributes of Allah at the time of supplication
• Manifestations of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
• Confession of sin brings nearness to God
• Third Discourse: The Divine Presence
• Being in the Divine Presence as higher than worship of the common man
• Reasons behind man’s failure
• The consequence of actions
• Fourth Discourse: Fear and Hope
• Fear and hope as a requisite of faith
• Perfect expression of the state of fear and hope in Imam al-Sajjad (‘a)
• Way of nurturing love for God
• Fifth Discourse: Remembrance of Allah
• Remembrance of Allah
• The essence of Allah’s remembrance
• Peace of mind lies only in the remembrance of Allah
• Remembrance of Allah under all conditions
• Sixth Discourse: The Heart
• Some features of the heart
• The value of the heart
• The spiritual life of man
• The difference in the levels of life
• Seventh Discourse: Degrees of Remembrance of Allah
• Different degrees of the remembrance of Allah
• Attachment to the world as a hindrance to the remembrance of Allah
• Man’s attitude toward material and spiritual deficiencies and needs
• Worldly allurement as a hindrance in the attainment of spiritual life
• Eighth Discourse: Provisions for the Hereafter
• The reason behind man’s negligence of the hereafter
• Nearness to God as the best provisions for the hereafter
• How can we have intimacy with God?
• Ninth Discourse: Faith
• The value of faith
• Sin and its danger to faith
• Some effects of faith
• 1. Certainty
• 2. Contentment with God’s decree
• Notes
• Part 4: Commentary on Du‘a’ Makarim al-Akhlaq
• First Discourse: Invoking Blessings on the Apostle (S)
• Supplication of the righteous
• Invoking blessings on the Apostle (S) for the acceptance of supplication
• Way of attaining the most perfect faith and highest decree of certainty
• The difference between faith and belief
• Reasons behind the peoples’ opposition to their respective prophets
• Signs of certainty
• The best of intentions and deeds
• The best worship
• Second Discourse: Human Responsibility
• Human responsibility
• Purpose of creation according to the Qur’an
• Perpetual guidance
• Third Discourse: Good and Evil
• Turning evil and defects into good and merits
• Seeking help to repel evil and attract good
• Goodness in exchange for the badness of others
• Keeping one’s honor
• Fourth Discourse: The Night of Ordainment
• The holiness of certain places and periods in the Qur’an
• The virtue of the month of Ramadan and the Night of Ordainment
• Refuting the alleged improbability of the revelation of the Qur’an in one night
• Notes